Maureen thanks lifeboat crew who came to rescue after holiday fall
A DERBYSHIRE woman who was rescued from the Isle of Lundy has returned to personally thank the lifeboat crew who rescued her back in 2018.
The incident happened on February 10, 2018, when Maureen Anderson broke her left femur after falling down stairs at Castle Keep.
At 4.45pm the coastguard requested help from the Appledore lifeboat in Devon, asking if the allweather lifeboat could be used to medically evacuate her. The coastguard rescue helicopter had been asked but take-off was delayed due to local weather conditions.
Within 10 minutes of the original request, the lifeboat was on its way to Lundy battling a force eight gale with 34-40 knot westerly winds through very rough seas with fourto six-metre swells, and visibility down to less than 100 metres in places. It arrived at Lundy at 6pm with the helicopter arriving soon after.
Unfortunately, the helicopter could not land nor conduct winching operations, due to the thick fog and strong winds. It was therefore stood down and returned to base.
The lifeboat landed three casualty care crew members, Owen Atkinson, Simon McCarthy and Natalie Simmons, ashore. Maureen was still at the base of the stairs in the cottage, attended by the island’s first responders.
The crew assisted in the treatment of Maureen and prepared her for her journey down the island and onto the lifeboat for a rough ride back to the mainland.
Due to the low water conditions at Appledore at the expected time of arrival, it was decided to take her to Ilfracombe arriving there at 10.25pm, where she was landed alongside in the harbour and transferred to a waiting ambulance.
The lifeboat then returned to
Appledore arriving on the mooring at 12.45am.
After a spell in North Devon District Hospital, then hospital in Derby, it has taken Maureen many months to achieve her current mobility.
She still finds it difficult to walk any great distance and uses a single crutch, with the leg and hip painful in damp and cold weather.
On their way back to Derbyshire from a holiday in the Isles of Scilly, Maureen, with her daughter and a friend, made a detour to Appledore Lifeboat Station where she said thank you to five of the lifeboat crew who came to her rescue on that day.